Cloud resource management using externally-sourced data

ABSTRACT

A processing device can make use of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model to make projections about resource usage based on data from external sources. The processing device can then adjust cloud-based resources accordingly. The cluster resource allocation can be adjusted as examples, by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining a number of nodes allocated to a cluster, by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining the number of pods assigned to an application or a container running in a cluster, or by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining central processing unit (CPU) resource, memory, disk storage, or a replication factor assigned to a pod.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to cloud computing systems. More specifically, but not by way of limitation, this disclosure relates to providing cloud resource management using Artificial Intelligence (AI) projections formulated based on data from sources external to the cloud network.

BACKGROUND

Network clusters used to implement a cloud computing system such as Kubernetes clusters or OpenShift clusters often have access to limited costly resources such as processing power, memory and storage space. The cost of maintaining such a network cluster can dramatically increase when demand requires increased resources. In order to handle workload efficiently and cost-effectively, the resources need to be provisioned optimally. Too many resources being allocated will incur unnecessary extra cost while too few resources being allocated can cause cluster and application performance issues. Since demand for cluster resources is dynamic and can vary dramatically over time, management of cluster-based cloud computing systems typically involves looking to past resource allocation patterns to make projections about future usage patterns and allocating resources accordingly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of a system that provides cloud resource management according to some aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another example of a system that provides cloud resource management according to some aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example of a process for providing cloud resource management according to some aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of another example of a process for providing cloud resource management according to some aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a data flow diagram showing an example of using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model for software cloud resource management according to some aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a data flow diagram showing another example of using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model for software cloud resource management according to some aspects of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An orchestrator is a software platform used to deploy and manage application software in a cloud network (“cloud”). An orchestrator runs and manages resources associated with microservices and infrastructures within the cloud. Kubernetes and OpenShift are a well-known, popular orchestrators that use organized hardware and software clusters to deploy cloud-based applications in software containers, which can be further grouped into software pods. In order to handle workload efficiently and cost-effectively, resources need to be provisioned optimally. Since demand for cluster resources varies dramatically over time, resources are typically managed by examining internally documented, past resource allocation patterns to make projections about future usage patterns. Since usage of a cloud-based application can be impacted by external events, these projections are not always accurate. It is therefore common for resources to be improperly allocated to tasks that do not need them, while starving other tasks that may actually need them, resulting in errors, failures, and other problems.

Some examples of the present disclosure overcome one or more of the issues mentioned above by providing Artificial Intelligence (AI) predictions based on relevant data from sources external to the network clusters, such as social media, to dynamically adjust cluster resources. As examples, external sources can supply one or more of social media data, environment data, or event data. The predictions can be translated into action items to dynamically adjust appropriate cluster resources for cloud networks, such as those based on OpenShift or Kubernetes.

Some examples of the present disclosure make use of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model to make projections about resource usage based on data from external sources and to adjust cloud-based resources accordingly. As an example, a processing device in a system can receive data samples from external sources, generate at least one projection based on the data samples and, use the Artificial Intelligence (AI) model to determine, based on the projection, prospective cluster resource usage for an application running on at least one cluster of the cloud resource network. The processing device can then adjust cluster resource allocation for the application in accordance with the prospective cluster resource usage determination.

In some examples, a processing device can receive training data from at least some external sources and train the Artificial Intelligence (AI) model as needed using the training data. In some examples, the cluster resource allocation is adjusted by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining a number of nodes allocated to the at least one cluster. Adjusting the number of nodes allocated to a cluster can be accomplished, as an example, by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining the number of pods assigned to the application, wherein each of the pods includes one or more containers. Adjusting the number of nodes allocated to a cluster can also be accomplished, as another example, by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining central processing unit (CPU) resource, memory, or a replication factor assigned to a pod.

These illustrative examples are given to introduce the reader to the general subject matter discussed here and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosed concepts. The following sections describe various additional features and examples with reference to the drawings in which like numerals indicate like elements but, like the illustrative examples, should not be used to limit the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of a system 100 that provides cloud resource management according to some aspects of the disclosure. More specifically, the system 100 includes a computing device 102. Examples of the computing device 102 can include a server, laptop computer, desktop computer, or any combination of these. The computing device 102 can execute software as defined below, which causes computing device 102 to perform the tasks of making projections based on data from external sources and adjusting cluster resources according to some aspects of the disclosure. Software can include computer-readable instructions that are executable by a processing device 104, such as program code instructions 105. The system can be programmed in any suitable programming language, such as Java, C++, C, Python, or any combination of these. Note that the software that implements cloud resource management as described in an exemplary fashion herein is distinct from the software that makes up applications running in the cloud network. Program code instructions 105 implement cloud resource management as described herein.

In FIG. 1, computing device 102 includes the processing device 104, memory device 106, an input/output (I/O) module or modules 110, and a random-access memory (RAM) 140. A bus or interconnect 144 is also provided to allow for inter- and intra-device communications using, for example, I/O module 110. I/O module 110 can include a network interface (not shown), which in turn communicates with cloud network 150. Cloud network 150 connects computing device 102 to nodes 160 a, 160 b, 160 c, and 160 d, which in this example make up at least a portion of a hardware cluster. Each node can include a processing device, a memory device, I/O, and other components similar to computing device 102 and other typical computing devices. In the example of FIG. 1, nodes 160 a-160 d run pods 162, 164, and 166, each including one or more containers. A container operates is a substantially isolated virtual environment that can run an instance of the application for which resources are needed.

Still referring to FIG. 1, memory device 106 can further include a stored, Artificial Intelligence (AI) model 107. An Artificial Intelligence (AI) model can be or include, as examples, a deep-learning model or a machine-learning model. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) model 107 can receive data samples from external sources 186. The data samples may include, as examples, event data, environment data, or social media data. In some examples, Artificial Intelligence (AI) model 107 is or includes a text analytics model 108. The text analytics model 108 can be used to produce sentiment scores 109, which can be used to make projections regarding prospective cluster resource usage and which can also be stored in memory device 106 or as part of cached information 170. Textual data samples for this analysis can come, as an example, from social media data. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) model 107, program code instructions 105 implement cloud resource management. Program code instructions 105 can include, as examples, a software component that translates projections into action items and a software component executes these action items on the clusters in the cloud network.

In the example of FIG. 1, cached information 170, such as external data samples, projections, prospective cluster usage information, and other information used by system 100 may be stored in RAM 140. In addition to connecting computing device 102 to nodes 160 a-160 d, I/O module 110 also connects computing device 102 to user device 172, which may be a personal computer, smartphone, tablet computer, or some other type of client device. User input can be received by computing device 102 through user device 172. User input and display functions can alternatively or additionally be provided through peripherals (not shown) locally attached to computing device 102. As one example, user input can be directed to causing the Artificial Intelligence (AI) model 107 to be retrained.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another example of a system that provides cloud resource management according to some aspects of the disclosure. The system 200 includes the processing device 104 that can execute computer program code, also referred to as instructions or program code instructions, for performing operations related to providing machine-learning or Artificial Intelligence (AI) projections based on relevant data from sources external to the network clusters, such as social media, to dynamically adjust cluster resources. Processing device 104 is communicatively coupled to the memory device 106. The processing device 104 can include one processing device or multiple processing devices. Non-limiting examples of the processing device 104 include a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, etc. The processing device 104 can execute one or more operations for generating at least one projection using the Artificial Intelligence (AI) model 107, and determine, based on the projection, prospective cluster resource usage for an application running on at least one cluster of the cloud resource network 250. The processing device can then adjust cluster resource allocation for the application in accordance with the prospective cluster resource usage. The processing device 104 can execute program code instructions 105 stored in the memory device 106. Computer program code instructions 105 can include instructions to train the Artificial Intelligence (AI) model 107 as needed. Computer program code instruction can also include a translate-to-action module that can, based on data samples from external sources, interpret projections and point to specific resources and components that need to be dynamically changed.

Memory device 106 can include one memory device or multiple memory devices. The memory device 106 can be non-volatile and may include any type of memory device that retains stored information when powered off. In some examples, at least some of the memory device can include a non-transitory computer-readable medium from which the processing device 104 can read instructions 105. A computer-readable medium can include electronic, optical, magnetic, or other storage devices capable of providing the processing device with computer-readable instructions 105 or other program code. Non-limiting examples of the memory device 106 include electrically erasable and programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, or any other type of non-volatile memory. Non-limiting examples of a computer-readable medium include magnetic disk(s), memory chip(s), ROM, random-access memory (RAM), an ASIC, a configured processor, optical storage, or any other medium from which a computer processor can read instructions.

The memory device 106 can include the Artificial Intelligence (AI) model 107 and information needed to train and retrain Artificial Intelligence (AI) model 107. The system of the example of FIG. 2 includes the same external sources 186 as shown in FIG. 1. The memory device 106 can also include projections 207 and prospective cluster resource usage information 208 determined from the projections, as well as data samples 282 from external sources 186. Although FIGS. 1 and 2 depict a certain arrangement of components for illustrative purposes, other examples can include any number and combination of these components arranged in any suitable configuration.

In some examples, a processing device (e.g., processing device 104) can perform one or more of the operations shown in FIG. 3 to provide provides cloud resource management according to some aspects of the disclosure. In other examples, the computing device can implement more operations, fewer operations, different operations, or a different order of the operations depicted in FIG. 3. Process 300 of FIG. 3 is described below with reference to components discussed above. At block 302, processing device 104 receives data samples from external sources 186. At block 304 of FIG. 3, processing device 104 uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) model 107 to generate at least one projection based on the data samples. At block 306, processing device 104 determines prospective cluster resource usage for an application running on at least one cluster of a cloud resource network based on the projections. At block 308 cloud resource allocation is adjusted for the application in accordance with the predicted cluster resource usage.

As another example, a computing device such as processing device 104 can perform the operations of process 400 shown in FIG. 4 to provide cloud resource management according to some aspects of the disclosure. At block 402, processing device 104 receives information from sources outside the cloud network resources being managed. This information is used by processing device 104 to produce training data to train Artificial Intelligence (AI) model 107 at block 404 of FIG. 4 for producing projections when data is available and relevant in the future. Training data can be obtained, as an example, by scraping text samples from various Internet services based on search criteria. At block 406, data samples are received by the processing device 104. At block 408, the data samples can be provided as input to the trained model 107 in order to obtain an output indicating a projection. If the data samples are text samples, the model can optionally include a text analytics model that carries out sentiment analysis in order to make the projection or projections. For example, the model text analytics model can analyze the text sample to determine whether the text sample has a positive or negative sentiment related to a particular event, and then generate the projection based on which type of sentiment is associated with the particular event.

In some examples, the data can include environment data. For example, an expected bout of bad weather or storms may suggest an increase in resource usage for weather related applications or emergency services applications. As another example, external data can include event data, which indicates that a certain external event is taking place where the external event may alter cloud resource usage. For example, a concert might taking place might suggest increased traffic on music-related social media platforms. Social media data can be indicators of events or can indicate increasing or decreasing interest in certain applications, products, news, travel opportunities, or the like. Data can be collected from outside data sources such as Web sites or social media platforms. Processing device 104 produces a projection or projections whenever the data in samples is relevant.

Still referring to FIG. 4, at block 410, processing device 104 executes a translate-to-action module in program code instructions 105 to interpret the projections and translate the projection or projections to an action or actions configured to adjust, for example, pod size, container size, CPU resource, memory, or replication factor assigned to a pod. The translate-to-action module can include, as an example, usage-action based mapping tables. A replication factor indicates how many replicas of the pod are maintained at any given time. Program code instructions 105 can include the translation-to-action module for interpreting the projections and identifying the specific resources and components that need to be dynamically changed. Once this determination is made, the resources for specific single or multiple component resources are dynamically adjusted at block 414 by processing device 104. The cluster resource allocation is adjusted in accordance with the determined, prospective cluster resource usage by adjusting allocated nodes, number of pods, or other resources. The projection portion of process 300 repeats continuously at block 416 unless training of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) model is initiated, in which case the process repeats from block 402.

FIG. 5 is a data flow diagram showing an example of using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model for software cloud resource management according to some aspects of the disclosure. Assume for purposes of the example in data flow 500 that a company produces Product A. Data samples are gathered from external data source 502, Twitter®, in the form tweets that include the tag “# ProductA.” This data is fed into the text analytics model 504. This Artificial Intelligence (AI) model is a machine-learning model trained to evaluate the sentiment of the user from the text that the user wrote about Product A. If the sentiment is positive and the model detects a sudden increase in interest or that the topic is suddenly trending, model 504 produces a projection indicating resource usage as a function of this trend, for example, as a function of the increasing number and frequency of positive tweets. This projection is passed to the translate-to-action module 516, which interprets this prediction for relevance to a specific application selling product A, in this case the node.js application running on a server in pod X in Kubernetes cluster 520. Module 516 also determines that pod X is running close to limits on memory and allocated CPU resources. Module 516 issues actions to dynamically increase pod X's CPU resources, memory and replication factor, shifting resources to pod X from the other pods in cluster 520 if necessary. Once the positive tweet frequency with respect to Product A decreases as indicated by the sentiment analysis, another prediction is produced, and an action is issued to take back or decrease CPU resources, memory, and replication factor of pod X.

In the example of FIG. 5, training data can be in a .csv file collected by a software component that scrapes tweets into the file based on a search criteria such as # ProductA. The data can be stored as rows of data in this csv file with columns indicating tweet date, tweeter name, tweet text, etc. This .csv file can be fed into the text Analysis machine learning model that indicates, for example, that 60% of the tweet texts are positive feedback for Product A. This data can also be fed into a model that can predict the trending or viral aspect of the tweets based on frequency of tweets by date. This model for example can predict 150% increase in tweets for the next week. This data of positive sentiment about to go viral can be translated to pod X that sells Product A should increase CPU 10%, memory 10%, and disk storage 10%.

FIG. 6 is a data flow diagram showing another example of using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model for software cloud resource management according to some aspects of the disclosure. Assume for purposes of the example in data flow 600 that a company provides online space for users to upload media, such as pictures and video, and share the media with other users. Samples of social media event data 602 from various external sources such as Twitter, Facebook® and Meetup® are fed into a social media machine-learning model 604. This model 604 is trained to identify upcoming events that are gaining user interest where users will likely be interested in taking and sharing media such as pictures, audio, and video. The model 604 can then generate a projection based on the identified events. Once a projection is produced, the projection is passed to the translate-to-action module 616 that correlates this prediction to the specific application that hosts the media and controls the storage space where this media is saved. In one example, the model 604 may determine that event A is taking place on date Y in location Z, which will likely have a number of attendees that results in a 50% increase in media sharing. An action is issued to increase the disk storage space of pod X in Kubernetes cluster 620 where this application is containerized. Once the event is done, and user activity with regards to this event slows down on social media sites, then this extra disk storage space is decreased for pod X.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, it is appreciated that throughout this specification that terms such as “operations,” “processing,” “computing,” and “determining” or the like refer to actions or processes of a computing device, such as one or more computers or a similar electronic computing device or devices, that manipulate or transform data represented as physical electronic or magnetic quantities within memories, or other information storage devices, transmission devices, or display devices of the computing platform. The order of the blocks presented in the examples above can be varied—for example, blocks can be re-ordered, combined, or broken into sub-blocks. Certain blocks or processes can be performed in parallel. Terms such as “above,” “below,” when referring to numerical comparisons can encompass the concept of equality.

The foregoing description of certain examples, including illustrated examples, has been presented only for the purpose of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Numerous modifications, adaptations, and uses thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure. 

1. A system comprising: a processing device; and a memory device including instructions that are executable by the processing device for causing the processing device to perform operations comprising: receiving a plurality of data samples from a plurality of external sources; generating at least one projection based on the plurality of data samples using an artificial intelligence (AI) model; determining prospective cluster resource usage for an application running on at least one cluster of a cloud resource network based on the at least one projection; and adjusting a cluster resource allocation for the application in accordance with the prospective cluster resource usage.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the operations further comprise: receiving training data from at least some of the plurality of external sources; and training the artificial intelligence (AI) model using the training data.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the cluster resource allocation is adjusted by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining a number of nodes allocated to the at least one cluster.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein cluster resource allocation is adjusted by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining a number of pods assigned to the application, wherein each of the pods comprises at least one container.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the cluster resource allocation is adjusted by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining at least one of central processing unit (CPU) resource, memory, disk storage, or replication factor assigned to a pod.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the data samples comprise at least one of event data, social media data, or environment data.
 7. The system of claim 1 wherein the artificial intelligence (AI) model comprises a text analytics model, and wherein the at least one projection is generated based on a sentiment score produced using the text analytics model.
 8. A method comprising: receiving, by a processing device, a plurality of data samples from a plurality of external sources; generating, by the processing device, at least one projection based on the plurality of data samples using an artificial intelligence (AI) model; determining, by the processing device, prospective cluster resource usage for an application running on at least one cluster of a cloud resource network based on the at least one projection; and adjusting, by the processing device, a cluster resource allocation for the application in accordance with the prospective cluster resource usage.
 9. The method of claim 8 further comprising: receiving training data from at least some of the plurality of external sources; and training the artificial intelligence (AI) model using the training data.
 10. The method of claim 8 wherein the cluster resource allocation is adjusted by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining a number of nodes allocated to the at least one cluster.
 11. The method of claim 8 wherein the cluster resource allocation is adjusted by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining a number of pods assigned to the application, wherein each of the pods comprises at least one container.
 12. The method of claim 8 wherein the cluster resource allocation is adjusted by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining at least one of central processing unit (CPU) resource, memory, disk storage, or replication factor assigned to a pod.
 13. The method of claim 8 wherein the data samples comprise at least one of event data, social media data, or environment data.
 14. The method of claim 8 wherein the artificial intelligence (AI) model comprises a text analytics model, and wherein the at least one projection is generated based on a sentiment score produced using the text analytics model.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program code that is executable by a processing device for causing the processing device to: receive a plurality of data samples from a plurality of external sources; generate at least one projection based on the plurality of data samples using an artificial intelligence (AI) model; determine prospective cluster resource usage for an application running on at least one cluster of a cloud resource network based on the at least one projection; and adjust a cluster resource allocation for the application in accordance with the prospective cluster resource usage.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein program code is further executable by the processing device for causing the processing device to: receive training data from at least some of the plurality of external sources; and train the artificial intelligence (AI) model using the training data.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein the cluster resource allocation is adjusted by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining a number of nodes allocated to the at least one cluster.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein the cluster resource allocation is adjusted by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining a number of pods assigned to the application, wherein each of the pods comprises at least one container.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein the cluster resource allocation is adjusted by increasing, decreasing, or maintaining at least one of central processing unit (CPU) resource, memory, disk storage, or replication factor assigned to a pod.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein the artificial intelligence (AI) model comprises a text analytics model, and wherein the at least one projection is generated based on a sentiment score produced using the text analytics model. 